Turning Tables
by serafina19
Summary: "Hearing the key turn, she prepared herself, as it had been months since she had seen Paul. It had been under much different circumstances, but for some reason, this conversation couldn't happen over the phone." Spoilers for 2x10.


**Warning**: Coarse language

**Dedication**: To scout09 on LJ, who started watching this show and indirectly inspired this.

* * *

**Turning Tables**

It was amazing how many memories this place held for Sarah. It wasn't hers, it wasn't even his, but in a weird way, this was where her life really changed. It wasn't the train station, it was this white, empty flat. This was where she really decided to become Beth, to insert herself into her life, emulate her mannerisms, sleep with her boyfriend.

This place was designed to be perfect, but like everything polished, it only concealed the lies beneath. Just like the mirror on the medicine cabinet hid the pills that Beth popped to maintain her sanity, something Sarah could understand now.

That was only part of the reason that the lights were off, preventing Sarah from re-living her time here. Hearing the key turn, she prepared herself, as it had been months since she had seen Paul. Plenty had changed between them since them, but for some reason, this conversation couldn't happen over the phone.

When the door opened, Sarah listened as the guns clicked simultaneously. After a deep breath, she stepped around the corner to turn the light on, showing Paul and Alison pointing their respective weapons at each other.

The suburban housewife wasn't exactly her first choice for back-up, but her familiarity with guns tipped her hand. Sarah knew that she could have called Art, but something told her that would have only ended in unnecessary bloodshed.

"Hand it over to her, Paul. The blade in your boot too." He surrendered the gun almost immediately before leaning down to get the knife. Sarah was too far away to know for sure, but she could have sworn that she saw a hint of a smirk on his face before he stood up and handed it to Alison. Satisfied, Sarah added, "Alison, go outside."

"Excuse me?" Alison asked, her familiar surprised voice ringing through the entryway. "There is no way –"

"Outside. Now," Sarah repeated. Watching as Paul turned around, their eyes met for the first time. "He won't shoot me. He'll try to ruin the lives of everyone I care about, but he won't hurt me."

Alison huffed before going outside, leaving them alone in the house, stares deadlocked on each other. The irony wasn't lost on Sarah as Paul walked past her to sit down on the couch. Even with the gun in her hands, she couldn't help but remember the night when he claimed to realize that she wasn't Beth. Now, she could only wonder what the real _test _was that night.

However, she knew that she couldn't focus on that forever, as it wouldn't be long before the surveillance on this place would return. "Where is Helena?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"How would I know?" He shrugged casually, an action that she knew all too well, but Sarah knew he had to be involved. "It's nice to see you too, by the way."

"Don't," she said, shaking the gun in his direction. Helena may have left, but the hat left behind all but cemented that she had been taken. Marion had bought them time on Dyad's side, which was how Sarah knew that she could come here safely. Meanwhile, the Proletheans were likely still licking their wounds from what Helena had done. However, with the reveal about the military, about Castor, that led to too many coincidences to even believe the word. "Don't play innocent in this Paul. If that's even your name."

"Put the gun down, Sarah." It was inches from his head, but it didn't even faze him. Granted, even Sarah knew this wasn't the first time he had been in this situation. It wasn't even the first time since they had met.

But her resolve held the gun in place, giving her a sense of power, no matter how misguided how that sentiment really was. "Not a chance."

She watched as his grin widened to a smile. It wasn't a happy one, but there was a hint of satisfaction in his voice when he spoke. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have. I could have snapped Alison's neck before she had a chance to react."

"That's comforting," Sarah replied after a scoff. It was also probably true, considering his training.

"But there's one thing you forgot to mention to Alison." Standing suddenly, Paul turned towards Sarah, his chest soon colliding with the gun, forcing it back towards her as he stepped forward. "You wouldn't shoot me either."

Feeling a hint of resolve slip away, Sarah realized that he was right, the gun was pointless. Lowering it, she broke eye contact before stepping away. "Because you have answers. Not because of whatever happened here." She chuckled as her gaze found the kitchen. "We were different people then."

Their eyes soon met again, Paul's more devious as he had caught her stare, which contradicted her earlier words. "Less has changed than you think."

"Bullshit." Feeling her anger rise up, Sarah bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep her cool. "We both know that you're deeper in this shit than almost anyone. Just how fake was Afghanistan?"

"It's complicated."

"Sure it is." That was pretty much what Sarah had expected from him, which suited her just fine because that wasn't why she was here. "Where is Helena?"

The repeated question brought back his poker face, the blank slate Sarah thought she could read. "What makes you think –?"

"I should have known the moment I never saw you at Dyad." Knowing the bitch, Rachel would have tried to use Paul to rattle Sarah like she used Kira. It was a tactic that wouldn't have worked, but the proclone was slightly predictable.

"How is Kira?"

"None of your damn business. You lost your right to give a damn about the people in my life when you framed Felix."

"Sarah, I didn't have a choice."

"Because of DYAD, or because of the military?" There it was, the first crack in his expression. It wasn't much, just an eyebrow twitch, but it was enough for Sarah. "I'm no military expert, but I always wondered how a disgraced soldier could keep a purple heart, even with Dyad's involvement. Combine that with Project Castor and I think it's safe to say that you knew that I was going to be here, yeah?" Pausing as he smirked, Sarah realized that she had her answer. "So how about you tell me the bloody truth?"

"I don't know where she is."

"Of course you don't," Sarah said as she pulled out the gun again. "You don't know _anything_, do you?" She knew that she was overreacting a little, but considering everything that had happened, she didn't care. All she could focus on right now was how she let herself be blinded by Paul.

"Beth knew, didn't she?" Sarah asked, although she doubted that he knew the answer. "She didn't kill herself because you were her monitor. She could have lived with that if it was a double blind, but you're involved deeper than Dr. Leekie and Rachel."

"Sarah…"

Even her name was too much for Sarah to hear, as she didn't waste any time interjecting. "Is a congratulations what you want… for fooling the con artist clone? Well, here it is."

Spreading her arms wide, she let herself be vulnerable. "I believed the whole damn act, I believed that you wanted to help us." When Paul just stood there, her arms slapped back against her sides. "But don't you dare tell me you didn't have a choice. Right here, you said _You think I had a choice_, and I believed you, but you _always _had a choice."

He could have saved Kira, he probably could have saved Cosima, but it was one big lie. And suddenly, Sarah didn't want to hear him justify his actions.

"If you knew I wasn't going to crack," Paul said, clearly recognizing her frustration, "why are you here?"

"Because there was a small part of me that still believed in the person I thought you were." Pulling the hood over her head, Sarah decided that she was willing to deal with the fact that this was a waste of time. "Guess I was wrong."

Based on how tonight was going, she was convinced that he would be relieved to see her go, but instead, he grabbed her left wrist, stopping her momentum. "The gun's gone," he whispered, the words enough for Sarah to whirl her head to look at him once more.

"What?"

"I had to abandon my cover, so I thought the least I could do was decrease the leverage Rachel had on you."

It wasn't much, but knowing that Felix was safe was better than nothing. However, even Paul knew that wasn't going to be enough for her to forgive and forget. She wasn't even sure that he wanted her to do that.

Pulling her arm back to her side, Sarah felt her head shake. "Doesn't change what you did. Or what you helped do."

Paul nodded as he turned to walk in front of her, stopping within inches of Sarah. "I didn't realize you and Helena became so close."

"She's my twin. We were always close." Or at least, they were in the literal sense. Granted, it was the one thing she couldn't blame Paul for not knowing, as he had no idea what they had gone through over the past few months. But there was one fact that he did know, one thing that should have stopped him. "She's my family, something you clearly know nothing about."

He swallowed hard, and for the first time, Sarah saw more than a hint of vulnerability in his face. This time, it felt real, as he had been working hard to hide any sign of it from her tonight. "I had to make a choice." When he reached forward to cover her elbow with her hand, Sarah instinctively twitched, not sure _what _he would do. But he kept it there, so she looked up at him. "It had to be you or her. It's always going to be you or her."

Despite her best intentions, Sarah felt her breath slow. Her body was fighting in two directions, the one side that knew what it felt like to let go with him, the other side that knew that she had been fooled enough times by him. After a few seconds, the latter side won out. "Well, at least you owned up to it now."

When she pulled away, Paul let her walk towards the door again. Upon arrival, Sarah tucked the gun in her coat before reaching for the doorknob.

"Hey Sarah."

"Yeah?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the door, expecting to hear footsteps approaching her, but there were no sounds in the house besides their voices.

"Keep an eye on Cal. He's not who you think he is either."

Scoffing, Sarah thought that was rich coming from him, but it didn't surprise her that he would go there. As she turned the doorknob, she said, "Goodbye Paul."

**~End~**

* * *

_Sera's Scribbles: This was a fandom that I had no intentions of writing fic for, but in the end, the idea won out over my apprehensions. Hopefully it turned out okay.  
_


End file.
